Russell, NIPQ 28.1 (Jan. 2012), finds that this book tells Rochefort's "story in superb fashion." It especially recounts the story of "Rochefort's success with regard to Midway ... to a degree and with details not previously seen." For Dooley, Cryptologia36.2 (Apr. 2012), the author "does an excellent job not only of leading us through Joe Rochefort's life, but also giving us a feel for how the US Navy operated in the interwar period." The book "has a journalistic flavor," but is also "very well researched and comprehensive."

For Peake, Studies 56.3 (Sep. 2012) and Intelligencer 19.3 (Winter-Spring 2013), this "[w]ell told and well documented" book tells the "story of a talented, sometimes abrasive, but always effective, officer battling the bureaucracy and unjustified criticism in a tradition-bound Navy."

The author suggests that Rochefort's 27 November 1941 briefing of Admiral Kimmel "might have unintentionally reinforced the Fleet commander's attachment to the conventional outlook at Pearl: Japan would strike -- on the other side of the Pacific."

Clark, Ronald W. The Man Who Broke Purple: The Life of Colonel William F. Friedman, Who Deciphered the Japanese Code in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown, 1977. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977.

Constantinides doubts that this book is the last word on this premier cryptologist, but sees it as "a good outline of Friedman's career," while Petersen believes that Clark has underestimated the "team effort in solution of the Japanese diplomatic cipher." To Sexton, the book is "indifferent but readable"; it "offers few insights into the technical aspects of the advent of MAGIC." See Kahn's critical review: "Friedman's Life," Cryptologia 2.2 (Apr. 1978), 122-123.

2. "From the Archives: Statement for Record of Participation of Brig. Gen. Carter W. Clarke, GSC in the Transmittal of Letters from Gen. George C. Marshall to Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, the Latter Part of September, 1944." 7, no. 2 (1983): 119-128. [Petersen]

According to Petersen, the work "[f]ocuses on the inter-war period and the U.S. solution of Japanese codes." Sexton notes, however, that the authors continue their narrative through the introduction of cryptanalytic computers in the 1960s, and terms the work an "essential source for those concerned with cryptanalysis and Communications Intelligence."

Miller, IJI&C 1.3, says this is an "absolutely superb book that will enable an ordinary reader to obtain a very good idea indeed of how machine ciphers can be broken." It is "authoritative." Erskine, I&NS 1.2, notes that parts of this book "are very technical"; nevertheless, the text "can generally be followed, given application, without existing cryptanalytical knowledge." Regrettably, the authors "are not always sound on historical detail, especially with Enigma." Overall, however, the book's "weaknesses are far outweighed by its merits."

DeBrosse, Jim, and Colin Burke. The Secret in Building 26: The Untold Story of America's War against the U-Boat Enigma Codes. New York: Random House, 2004.

Seamon, Proceedings 130.4 (Apr. 2004), notes that Building 26 on the National Cash Register campus in Dayton, Ohio, was where "the electromechanical giants that would help decipher Germany's complex Enigma code" were produced. While "the authors make a determined effort to explain the inner workings of Bombes, the average reader may have a tough time digesting unfamilar details.... But it will be worth the trouble." For Kruh, Cryptologia 29.2 (Apr. 2005), "[t]his excellent book is highly recommended."

According to Constantinides, "[e]xperts have found the book unreliable as cryptological and intelligence history." Sexton finds that the book "[f]urnishes valuable background, but has been superseded by more recent works."

The author argues against the conclusion that JICPOA gave the coordinates of Japanese merchant ships carrying Allied POWs to ComSubPac knowing that POWs would be killed. The intercepts that led to the erroneous conclusion actually came the Japanese Water Transport Code system. This system did not provide indicators of the presence of POWs on the merchant ships. This article also offers some indicators of the significant conflicts between Army and Navy codebreaking organizations.

Aftergood, Secrecy News (from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy) 2005, no. 54 (8 Jun. 2005), refers to this work as a "major historical study of communications intelligence (COMINT) regarding the destruction of European Jewry and other targeted populations during World War II."

For Alvarez, I&NS 20.4 (Dec. 2005), "[t]his is a superb monograph" that "provides an informed overview of how American and British communication intelligence (Comint) agencies reported the Holocaust.... Those seeking a short [167 pages] but authoritative account of codebreaking and the Holocaust need look no further." Wolfe, Cryptologia 33.4 (Oct. 2009), calls this book "an interesting read, filled with facts and specific examples of decrypted intercepts. It contains an invaluable set of references for the reader who is interested in pursuing the topic."

Sexton calls this an "objective examination" of the 1941 incident. Harris' version contradicts Ladislas Farago's account in The Broken Seal (see Chapter 15, "Moment of Crisis"). This is a "provocative and well written account."

Hatch David A. "Enigma and Purple: How the Allies Broke German and Japanese Codes During the War." In Coding Theory and Cryptography: From Enigma and Geheimschreiber to Quantum Theory, ed. David Joyner, 53-61. New York: Springer, 2000.

Haufler, Hervie.

1. Codebreakers' Victory: How the Allied Cryptographers Won World War II. New York: New American Library, 2003.

Kruh, Cryptologia 28.1, says that this is "a comprehensive account of the outstanding work by American and British codebreakers in the Allied victory.... Highlights of major battles in almost every major operation around the globe, on land, sea and in the air are included.... [The author] calls codebreaking 'the decisive factor'" in winning the war.

For Showers, NIPQ 24.2 (Apr. 2008), this is "without question the most comprehensive, clearly-written, accurate and revealing book on the world-wide efforts to provide intelligence support based on intercepted and exploited enemy communications for the benefit of U.S. and Allied forces in all theaters throughout the 1939 to 1945 duration of the war."

The focus here is on Lt. Cdr. Joseph J. Rochefort's work in breaking the Japanese naval code.

History Channel. Secrets of War: Sworn to Secrecy -- Breaking the Japanese Codes. http://www.secretsofwar.com.

According to Kruh, Cryptologia 24.2, this one-hour documentary "uses still film and live action footage to provide an exciting history of code breaking by the United States." It is one of the 52-part "Secrets of War" series.

Surveillant 3.6: This is a "judicious biography" by a former law clerk. It includes "Powell's early work in OSS and his role in ULTRA intelligence." See also, Putney, ed., Ultra and the Army Air Forces in World War II: An Interview with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Lewis F. Powell, Jr (1987).